WHAT THE SAM HOUSTON DID I JUST READ? This is one messed up story about two best friend who are two sides of the same coin, making it so they are the perfect collection together. Toss in a really wild (and I wonder how legal) beer, an ex-girlfriend and some crazy accidents and situations and you have an experience story about two losers who just do their damnedest to get by, live, laugh, love, cry and who knows, maybe save the world (or at least each other) in the process. Sometimes even wearing pants.
The above paragraph is my first thoughts on Open Bar (Edicao Definitiva) by Eduardo Medeiros. My second thoughts are, well, I am glad I read it, I probably will recommend it, if for no other reason than people can appreciate the time, effort and work that went into it. Artists can appreciate the illustrations. They are surreal, abstract, and realistic. Things are not proportioned correctly. Such as main character Lenny’s arms look like some long and limp spaghetti and main character Beardo has no hands, just bread arms with lines that represent fingers, I think).
Things are crowded in a minimalist manner. The story is the same way. Sometimes it feels like things are missing or were repeated. I am not sure if that is because it was my reader copy, the translation or things are jumping about. The flashbacks happen, but you can usually see it is “before” due to the size and age being represented or the clothing and hair of the character. There is a lack of color (which I am assuming will be in the final and not just the reader copy). But what is there sets a mood.
Overall, language, violence, sex, drugs and oddly enough, no rock n roll (just video games and a “nerd convention”) all come together with two surprise endings (one a lot nicer than the other). And when you read Open Bar, let me know if the name Conan won out.
